“We thought living in traditional enclaves would attenuate the association between inflammation and greater breast density because these neighborhoods may help maintain traditional lifestyle behaviors and provide a buffer against some of the changes that immigrants might experience, such as changes in diet and social environment,” Dr. Fang said. “What we did not expect to find was a negative association between inflammation and breast density in areas that are non-enclaves or emerging enclaves.”

PHILADELPHIA (September 4, 2019) – Researchers have found that studies assessing factors for a specific ethnic group’s risk for cancer might need to account for where people live.

Carolyn Y. Fang, PhD, and colleagues at Fox Chase Cancer Center recently discovered that among Chinese immigrant women living in and around Philadelphia, the relationship between markers of inflammation and risk for breast cancer varied according to the neighborhoods they lived in.

They found that the relationship between inflammation and breast density differed when comparing neighborhoods with higher concentrations of Chinese immigrants with those that had lower concentrations, said Fang, co-leader of the cancer prevention and control program at Fox Chase. “Having high levels of inflammatory markers and high or low breast density was not straightforward and varied depending on where participants lived.”

Fang and colleagues performed assessments of breast density and two markers of inflammation associated with breast cancer risk—serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (sTNFR2)—among more than 400 Chinese immigrants in the Philadelphia region. The majority lived in what the researchers termed “traditional urban enclaves” for Chinese immigrants, such as Chinatown and South Philadelphia, or “emerging enclaves” like the Northeast area of the city.

Among all participants, higher levels of CRP were associated with lower breast density. However, associations between sTNFR2 and breast density varied by neighborhood.

Chinese immigrants living in traditional enclaves had no association between the sTNFR2 inflammatory marker and measures of breast density. However, among Chinese immigrants living in emerging enclaves and non-enclaves, higher levels of inflammation were associated with lower levels of breast density.

“We thought living in traditional enclaves would attenuate the association between inflammation and greater breast density because these neighborhoods may help maintain traditional lifestyle behaviors and provide a buffer against some of the changes that immigrants might experience, such as changes in diet and social environment,” Fang said. “What we did not expect to find was a negative association between inflammation and breast density in areas that are non-enclaves or emerging enclaves.”

According to Fang, this finding will require further exploration and study. In the future, Fang and colleagues want to gain a more nuanced understanding of how these neighborhoods differ. Future studies might explore diet, physical activity, social functioning, access to health care, and use of services in order to help understand how neighborhood differences in these factors and others impact health.

The research was supported by National Institutes of Health grants R01 CA106606 and R01 MD012621.

SHARE THIS:

The Hospital of Fox Chase Cancer Center and its affiliates (collectively “Fox Chase Cancer Center”), a member of the Temple University Health System, is one of the leading cancer research and treatment centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation’s first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase was also among the first institutions to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are also routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center’s nursing program has received the Magnet recognition for excellence five consecutive times. Today, Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research, with special programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship and community outreach. It is the policy of Fox Chase Cancer Center that there shall be no exclusion from, or participation in, and no one denied the benefits of, the delivery of quality medical care on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, disability, age, ancestry, color, national origin, physical ability, level of education, or source of payment.
For more information, call 1-888-FOX CHASE or (1-888-369-2427).

Temple Health refers to the health, education and research activities carried out by the affiliates of Temple University Health System (TUHS) and by the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. TUHS neither provides nor controls the provision of health care. All health care is provided by its member organizations or independent health care providers affiliated with TUHS member organizations. Each TUHS member organization is owned and operated pursuant to its governing documents.